Rowen Hart was not a rule follower. She was never afraid to speak her mind or follow her convictions no matter where they lead her. She was absolutely certain that the Capital could never take away her spirit.
But the Games change everyone.
Years a...
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~The 75th Annual Hunger Games~
"Have you put the bread in the oven yet?" Lou asked as she walked into the kitchen.
Nodding my head, I wiped my flour-covered hands on the front of the apron. I stopped, eyes raking over her dirty clothes that were damp from the downpour of rain outside and her hard-pressed expression. "Yeah, it should be ready in a couple of minutes..."
Lou set down the bags of food she picked up for dinner in the square. Neither her nor I were very skilled chefs so we almost always got food out. "Chicken and rice okay?"
"Yeah sounds great," I muttered unenthusiastically before deciding to confront her. "Are you ever going to tell me where you keep going off to during the day?"
A sigh left my best friend's lips as she gave me a pitiful smile, causing my body to tense. Lou might be the only single person left on this earth that I care lives of dies, but I hated pity. Murderers do not need nor deserve pity.
"I was just off running some errands" She shrugged while grabbing a plate and loading some food onto it.
"You must have a lot of errands to run lately" I bit back, slamming down the plate I just grabbed and leveling a harsh look toward her.
A moment of silence passed between us as Lou searched for something to say. I could see the battle waging in her eyes about whether or not to tell me whatever it was that she was hiding.
"Rowen, you know you're my best friend" She began carefully, "But you have to trust that I know what I'm doing"
It never mattered to her that her life was in constant danger. That just knowing me put a large target on her back. And now she's obviously doing something illegal under my nose. Swallowing the panic that crept up my throat I nodded at her.
"Promise me you won't get yourself killed" Were my only words, sounding both even and unfeeling.
But we both knew they were anything but.
"I promise" She whispered, and then cleared her throat. "What did you do today?"
"Just stayed around here" I answered fixating my eyes on the plate I had resumed filling with food.
Another moment of silence, and I knew that she understood what that meant. "More nightmares?"
Nodding stiffly, I kept my eyes trained on the plate in front of me.
Last night, I'd had several trips to the bathroom to heave out the contents of my stomach after having one night terror after another. When I woke up this morning, the nightmares, which were actually memories, were so fresh all I could bring myself to do today was lay on the bathroom floor and force myself to forget. It wasn't like I was able to do much during my days as the new regime at 8 was so strict I could get flogged for stepping foot out of the house.
